According to the California Department of Education, the CALPADS system will be fully implemented by 2010. The successful implementation of the CALPADS system will empower local districts to track students more accurately and to target strategies to reduce dropout rates. However, in order to maximize the impact of an accurate student data system, students, parents, administrators, and policymakers need to coordinate technical know-how and resources. To that end, the six PUER school districts put forth the following recommendations:
1. Work with school districts to address the issue of duplicate SSIDs.School districts should work together towards uniformity in staff training, data management, and data reporting policies. If school districts in California employ varying degrees of scrutiny in issuing SSIDs, this may result in duplicate SSIDs, which over time will significantly compromise the accuracy and dependability of the CALPADS database.
2. Include school districts in the process of revising dropout documentation policies.Locally, school districts face an array of unique situations that may have a significant impact on the accuracy of dropout reporting. For example, some school districts have encountered a number of students who enroll in multiple schools or school districts within a short period of time, which can both compromise the accuracy of SSIDs and the annual reporting dropout counts. Therefore, it is important for school districts to be involved in the process of formalizing dropout reporting parameters.
3. Break down student data into subcategories.In the past, CBEDS reporting did not create a separate category for students who have passed school graduation requirements but did not successfully pass the CAHSEE. It is important to establish dropout subcategories in order to accurately report dropout data, and to adequately target programs to help students successfully graduate. Further research could focus on a deeper explanation of why students drop out of school, as well as take advantage of the subcategory data to learn whether students have truly dropped out, or are still pursuing their education elsewhere.
4. Establish a statewide forum for districts to address issues related to dropouts.The successes and failures of different districts should be shared in order to share information about promising practices for dropout prevention. In addition, school districts should also have a means of communicating problems with the CALPADS system to the CDE and to one another.
5. Address the issue of dropout data for charter schools and private schools.Currently charter schools within school districts, as well as private schools in surrounding areas, are not directly connected to the data systems of the local public high schools. This can cause problems in districts with highly mobile student populations who transfer between public, private and charter high schools. Therefore it is imperative to increase data coverage and transparency so that all high school youth are served.
6. Conduct empirical research on programs to reduce dropout rates.School districts are engaged in multiple efforts to address the dropout problem, but very little research has been conducted on promising practices and the impact of different policy interventions. It is important that evaluation data on dropout prevention programs and dropout data systems are shared among districts.
Solving California’s dropout problem will require better information and effective interventions, along with regular communication across districts to keep track of students and to identify successful approaches to the dropout issue. The implementation of CALPADS will support state and local efforts to reduce dropouts by providing more accurate information on enrollment and mobility, allowing students to be tracked as they move among districts and schools over time. In addition to better data, though, reducing California’ s dropout rates will lso require interventions of the kinds described in this report to keep students engaged in school and to help.
The Partnership for Urban Education Research represents a promising initiative by some of California’s largest school districts to work together to better understand the challenges they face, by sharing information about innovations in policy and practice, and making better use of data and their own research capacity to address those challenges. Their continued cooperation offers the promise of real progress on the task of reducing dropout rates and ensuring that all of California’s students have the knowledge and skills they need to contribute effectively to the state’s economy and society.